Nova Scotia Power Inc. is building a dozen fast-charging stations for electric vehicles, using funding from investors rather than ratepayers as originally proposed.

Tiffany Chase, a spokeswoman for the utility, says the 12 stations will be financed through an investment from shareholders after the energy regulator rejected its proposal that it be funded through higher power bills.

She says the network will be cost-shared by Natural Resources Canada, with the Nova Scotia government installing secondary chargers at each station.

The charging stations will be located roughly every 65 kilometres along Nova Scotia's highways and feature both Level 3 fast chargers for pure electric vehicles and Level 2 chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles.